The Invention Tree

Poetry. Art. Text by Jerome McGann with drawings by Susan Bee. This delightful book plays with words and non-words, phonetics, and poetic conventions such as metrics, rhyme scheme, and figurative language to cleverly reflect on the much debated, long troublesome, ever wonderful process of artistic creation. Jerome McGann weaves a fantasyland complete with oceans and islands, lords and ladies, demons and creatures, and the familiar trope of the tree in the garden–here it is one of invention. The imaginative nature of the work, and its mastery of allegory liken it to the whimsical cousin of Spenser’s Faerie Queene in miniature. Where Spenser discussed religious morality, McGann’s work is a parable of the joys and trials of the creative process, and the dilemmas an artist will inevitably encounter on the journey to inspiration. Susan Bee’s artwork provides a colorful compliment to McGann’s poetry, the images joining in a medley of whimsy that reinforces his charmingly quirky style.–Sarah Caitlin Ghusson